Special Issue of Democratic Communiqué is Out Now:

Freedom of Expression, Campus Politics, Academic Freedom and the War on Gaza

Since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Israel has engaged in an ongoing and massive assault on Gaza and the Palestinian people, inflicting mass casualties to such an extent that many academics, journalists, activists, artists, human rights groups, and even the nation of South Africa, have identified the Israeli government’s assault as genocide. This onslaught is now being extended to the West Bank and Lebanon. At the same time, an international protest movement has called for an end to the violence and for the liberation of the Palestinian people. But many voices of protest have been met with silencing, censorship, deplatforming, punishment, and, at times, violence. While this has long been the case, the past year has seen an acceleration of reactionary responses to activism, art, education, and media devoted to solidarity with Palestine. Because of UDC’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom, we are devoting a special issue of Democratic Communiqué to manuscripts focusing on the suppression of criticism of the Israeli government’s actions and the censoring of pro-Palestinian perspectives in both academia and the larger political discourse.